God's Light

June 25, 1990

ONE morning not long ago I thought to myself as I woke up, ``Wonder what this day will bring.'' At once, a Biblical phrase totally changed my perception of the coming day. He ``hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light'' is what I thought. Later, I found that it was from I Peter, in the New Testament. But right away, it spoke to me of much more than just night once again turning to day.

I could hardly expect to have ``just another day'' in view of ``his marvellous light.'' Light like this comes from God; it is spiritual in its origin and in the way it works to illuminate our lives. It can give wonderful new vision to what we're doing. Best of all, it can uncover a whole new ``us,'' one that was always there but that we may not have ever seen so clearly before.

That connection between the source of this light and the focus of our lives is important. This source is God -- Life itself. He is the creator of man. And because His creation is totally spiritual, I could see that my day really belongs to Him.

Not surprisingly, without spiritual light there is little hope in times of sickness; little law or just government; immorality is rampant. Christ Jesus came to bring spiritual light to the world. Prophets spoke of his coming in terms of light; light pinpointed his birth; his healings are specific examples of the power of light; and his rich legacy of truth can be to us an eternal source of light and healing in our own lives. Jesus said, ``I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.''1

But we do have to follow him, and Jesus laid out some rather demanding guidelines if we are to be real followers. For example, in the fifth chapter of Matthew, alone, I counted (and I may have missed a few!) over twenty demands on our thinking and living. It's capped off by Christ Jesus' demand ``Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.''2 These are Christian demands, because the heartfelt and constant effort to follow them naturally brings us into accord with God's light. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, ``Christianity causes men to turn naturally from matter to Spirit, as the flower turns from darkness to light.''3

Stepping into this light always leaves us with a better understanding of what man is. I learned this lesson once when I assumed responsibility for a major family project. I had no experience in doing what I had to do, and after getting into the project just far enough that I couldn't turn back, I became paralyzed by fear. There were too many details and too much work. I had too little knowledge, I thought, and we had too little money. And when I say ``paralyzed by fear,'' I mean it. I could hardly get out of bed each morning!

Yet, I couldn't help noticing something. Even though I struggled to start each morning, it took only an hour or so of work to break the spell of dread, and I ended each day genuinely happy in the work. It didn't take long to see that it wasn't the task or the finances that were hindering me. It was this feeling of fear.

To me, this recognition was a burst of ``marvellous light.'' After that, even though I still felt apprehensive from time to time, I was able to go ahead confidently because I knew that fear had no part in my relationship to God. We finished our project in good fashion. And now whenever I'm tempted to think that doing it was a marvel, I remember the spiritual growth that took place. And I know that the spiritual light I saw is the real marvel!